What do countries call themselves? The stories behind their original names
There are more than 7,000 languages spoken worldwide across nearly 200 countries.
This vast linguistic diversity influences how nations refer to themselves, with many using names in their native languages that differ from their commonly known English versions.
Every year, on February 21, the United Nations observes International Mother Language Day to promote “the preservation and protection of all languages spoken by the peoples of the world”.
This date marks a historic event in 1952 when students in Dhaka protested for the recognition of Bengali as an official language in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Four students were killed, leading to mass protests that eventually led to Bengali being recognised as an official language in 1956.
In the following visual explainer, Al Jazeera maps the names and meanings of countries around the world.
